Better Later than Never
by Ghosty Starr
Summary: Allen Walker was used to his routine, his honors-level classes, and his neat apartment, but his list of rules was thrown out the window the day he ran over his classmate. AU Laven.


**Chapter One:**

* * *

"Wallet, keys, English paper, history book, notebook…" Allen listed off on his fingers, examining the contents in his book bag carefully. He then checked his watch and gasped. He was already eight minutes behind schedule. He quickly did a second thorough check of his bag before slinging it over his shoulder and dashing out the door. He was halfway down the steps when he stopped, backtracked, and locked the front door, and then raced back down to his car.

He dropped his keys before he could stick them in the ignition and hit his head off the steering wheel when he bent down to pick them up. Rubbing his abused forehead with a scowl, he snatched the keys and turned the car on with more force than he needed.

Today was just not his day.

Allen Walker prided himself in being a very organized person. He had the next three months scheduled down by the hours. His calendar was stuffed with to-do lists. His to-do lists had to-do lists. While most kids his age spent their nights drinking their youth into a blissful haze, Allen had his nose firmly stuck in a book and took in each word like he took in air.

His foster father had wanted Allen to excel in his studies and make a decent life for himself, something he had missed out on. Allen was currently in his second year of college thanks to a hefty scholarship. He had to dish out near perfect grades to maintain it, however, but Allen had had no trouble scoring A's on every exam and paper so far. It wasn't that he was a natural genius or anything. He was simply too organized for his own good. He devoted much of his free time to studying and planning his future which, while most of his classmates viewed him as a bore, definitely paid off in the end.

So it was practically sacrilege when his alarm clock decided it was time to go to the giant nightstand in the clouds and leave Allen waking up thirty minutes late.

As Allen backed out of the driveway, he suddenly realized that he had not grabbed his cellphone. Cursing up a storm, he nearly broke his car door off its hinges and stomped back up to his front door, which naturally he hadn't grabbed the keys, which were still in the ignition, and had to run all the way back, turn off the car, and drag himself back up, and finally unlock his door. He grabbed his phone off of his kitchen counter and dashed back out as fast as his legs could go. He went down two steps then immediately went back up, locked his door, and ran back to his car. He felt like an utter fool. The day couldn't possibly get any worse.

He took a minute to check his bag again. "Wallet, keys, English paper, history book, notebook, _phone_…" he sighed. "That's everything."

He took a second minute to calm himself, as driving while angry could only lead to more trouble, before pulling onto the road. He slowed to a stop in front of his mailbox, and, of course, whenever he opened it, the whole lid broke off. He quickly threw it into the backseat and made a mental note to have it fixed later. He grabbed the mail and sifted through it quickly, casting it onto the empty passenger seat when it proved to be nothing but junk and advertisements.

He checked his watch. Ten after nine. He had twenty minutes to make it to his first class. He lived in a small apartment complex only a few miles from his college, so if he avoided the traffic on the main road he would be golden. Feeling immensely better, he turned onto a back road that he rarely ever used except on days like today, where absolutely nothing would go his way.

Once he spotted the sign for the university, he let out a huge sigh of relief. He made it.

He itched at his eye. His contact had been bugging him all morning. He started to wonder if maybe he had put in the wrong ones after all. It certainly wouldn't have surprised him. Growling in frustration, he rubbed at his eye again, desperately trying to will the annoyance away.

He looked away from the road for just a moment and used the rearview mirror to check his watery eye. Was there an eyelash or something—?

_BAM!_

Allen shouted out in surprise as something hit the front of his windshield. Something big. He slammed his foot down on the breaks at once, screaming until the car came to a complete stop. He sat in silence for a few heart-pounding moments, gripping the steering wheel with trembling hands. His wide eyes slowly wandered up to the small crack in his windshield.

Then, his senses snapped back into place and he scrambled out of the car immediately. He ran to the front of the car to survey the damage and find whatever that something was that hit him.

A cold sense of dread clutched him when he realized it wasn't a something rather than a some_one_. "Oh my God!" he gasped, hand clasping over his mouth. His heart sank right down to his toes. He hit a person!

The man was lying face down on the pavement, seemingly unconscious. He had on jeans and a black leather jacket that now had a tear on its sleeve. Allen felt a bit sick as he recognized the spiky mess of red hair. It was Lavi Bookman, an upperclassman known to all as the party king of the university. Allen had history class with him and, while he always thought Lavi had been sort of fake and a bit of a jerk, he certainly hadn't wanted to run him over with his car!

"Oh God!" Allen cried, burying his face in his hands. He just hit _Lavi Freaking Bookman_ with his car. He looked over Lavi's unmoving body again. "Um…" he tried, moving closer so that he could nudge Lavi's arm with his foot. "You okay?"

No response.

Then again, what was Allen expecting? For him to just jump up, brush off his shoulders, and walk it off? Allen bit his lower lip. He didn't see any bleeding at least. Still, Allen's head was reeling to decide on what to do next. He could leave; no one was around to have seen anything. He could go to class and pretend like none of this ever happened!

"Ugh, what am I thinking?" Allen cried, running his hands through his hair in an estranged manner. He couldn't just leave him there! He could be seriously hurt! Allen wouldn't be able to live with himself. He weighed his options again before deciding to call an ambulance and explain everything.

He let out a whimper before digging into his pockets and dialing 9-1-1.

...

Fifteen minutes later, Allen was talking to two very impatient police officers. The ambulance already came and went. Allen had heard them say that Lavi was still breathing, which was good. That meant Allen wasn't a murderer. Yet.

"So…tell us again exactly what happened?" One of the police officers raised a skeptic eyebrow. "But this time skip the part about your alarm clock's alleged 'death'."

Allen groaned. "Like I said, I was running late. I have a class at nine-thirty here on Wednesdays and Fridays so I was in a rush to get there on time. Something got in my contact and I looked away to fix it and then…"

The officers exchanged glances. Then they turned back to Allen with frowns. "Boy, you must be the most unorganized person I've ever met."

Allen deflated at the words. He felt so defeated he just wanted to lie down and attempt to blend in with the scenery. Instead, he just watched the ground in shame.

The officer sighed. "Well, for now we'll wait to see what condition Bookman is in. Until then, consider your license revoked until further notice."

"Yes, sir," Allen mumbled.

"And don't be skipping out of town, either!" the other officer piped in. "We'll need to question you later. Properly."

"Yes, sir," Allen said again through the lump in his throat.

The officers gave him one last stern look before walking away. Then, the older officer stopped and turned back. "One more thing, boy!"

Allen snapped his head up. "Ah! Y-yes, sir?"

The officer flicked his cap with his thumb and gave him an almost amused look. "It's Saturday."

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**Hi :3 Short first chapter but I had to end it with that line (poor Allen). Anywho, this is going to be such a 'feel good' fic that it'll blow your fluff-loving socks right off! XD Happy Valentine's Day/ Single's Awareness Day/ Friday! Whichever you prefer! Thanks for reading! :)**


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